Gogo Comments on Potential 5G Impact on Radio Frequency Interference

Gogo 5G Not the Subject of FCC and FAA Discussions Regarding 5G Interference

 Nov. 1, 2021

Gogo Business Aviation commented on recent reports of federal regulatory bodies discussing the potential of certain radio frequencies planned to be used for 5G networks interfering with aeronautical services.

Those discussions between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) center on potential interference with aircraft radio altimeters that operate in the 4.0 GHz - 4.2 GHz range caused by the terrestrial carriers' 5G use of C-Band spectrum in the 3.7 – 3.98 GHz range.

"Gogo has never used the frequencies under discussion, nor do we plan to use those frequencies for our 5G network," said Sergio Aguirre, president of Gogo Business Aviation. "The spectrum bands used by Gogo, currently and following the launch of our 5G network, have been in use for decades and have never been shown to interfere with aeronautical services."

For its 5G network Gogo plans to use 4 MHz of spectrum it owns in the 800 MHz band and additional unlicensed spectrum in the 2.423 GHz – 2.475 GHz range, which has sufficient spacing from the radio altimeter operating range to preclude any interference by the Gogo 5G system.